Telescopic toothbrush



INVEN TOR.

Sn wfi a G S RIDNER, 5R

TELESCOPIC TOOTHBRUSH' Aug. 1, 1950 Patented Aug. 1, 195 0 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE TELESCOPIC TOOTHBRUSH George S. Ridner, Sr., Newark, N. J.

Application August 15, 1946, Serial No. 690,752

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to tooth brushes of the collapsible type.

An important object of my invention is to provide a tooth brushcomprising a hollow handle and a brush head adapted to be telescopedwithin the handle when the tooth brush is not in service but which isslidable outwardly to extended position through an open end of thehandle when the brush is to be used for brushing the teeth.

Another object ofmy invention-is to provide a tooth brush of the abovecharacter including means which, when the brush is telescoped toinoperative position, engage the rows of bristles and press themlaterally together so that during drying of the bristles they willrestore themselves to generally the same erect position as when new,thus preserving the life of the tooth brush.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a tooth brush of theabove character in which the brush head as it is drawn outwardly fromthe handle forms a tight frictional lock therewith so as to maintain thetooth brush against collapse during its period of use.

As an additional object, my invention provides a tooth brush which isadapted to be quickly and conveniently extended and collapsed and whichin the latter condition occupies a very small space so as to be readilycarried about upon the person or in a toilet kit or a ladys handbag.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,reference being had to the annexed drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a telescopic tooth brush inextended position:

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the tooth brush fully collapsed;

Figure 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the brush taken on theline 33 of Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is an exploded view of the handle; and

Figure 5 is a plan View in part sectional of one end of the tooth brushwith the brush head in extended position.

The collapsible tooth brush shown in the drawing comprises a hollowhandle I and a brush head 2 slidably associated with the handle so as tobe telescoped into and out of the handle through an open end thereof.

The handle, as best shown in Fig. 4, is made in two sections, namely atrough-shaped shell 3 having its side walls 3a longitudinally recessed,as indicated at 4 to provide a trackway for the brush head, and a cover5 adapted to overlie and close the open side of the shell.

The brush head is of generally rectangular when the brush head is drawnoutwardly of the handle the block makes a wedge fit within its trackwayas the brush head reaches its fully ex- 5 tended position, as indicatedin Fig. 5.

The cover 5 rests upon the upper edges of the two side walls 3a of theshell 3 and has a pair of downwardly projecting ribs 8 which restagainst the inner faces of the walls 3a of the shell 3 and are cementedthereto so as to hold the shell and cover together in unitary assembly.One end of the cover-that is, the end overlying the tapered trackwaysection ta of the shell-has a longitudinal slot 9 into which thebristles 5 of the brush head are adapted to slide when the brush iscollapsed. The width of this slot corresponds to approximately the widthof the area on the head occupied by the bristles so that as the brushhead is slid into the handle the sides of the slot exert lateralpressure upon the longitudinal outer rows of bristles whereby thebristles are forced together and urged to upright position. Thus,following use of the tooth brush while the bristles are still wet, theslot 9 serves to restore the bristles to their original erect positionwhich, after drying out, the bristles will tend to maintain and therebyprolong the eiiective life of the brush.

The end of the shell 3 nearest the brush head is externally reinforcedby a metal band .H] to avoid spreading of the sides 3a as the block 1wedges against the converged portion 4a of the grooves 4, while theopposite end of the shell is closed by a down-turned section 5a of thecover 5 which is cemented to the end of the shell. A drain opening I lis formed in the downturned section to for the escape of any soap orwater that may become entrapped within the handle.

The tooth brush is preferably made of plastic although it may be made ofmetal, or partly plastic and partly metal.

It will be apparent that when the brush is telescoped into the handlethe tooth brush occupies a small space and may be conveniently carriedin a pocket or compactly stowed away in a toilet kit, or ladys hand bag.In order to prevent the bristles from becoming soiled or from wettingthe inside of the pocket, kit, or handbag, the tooth brush willpreferably be placed in a waterproof receptacle, such as a plasticcontainer, but since such container forms no part of the presentinvention it is not described herein.

It is within the purview of my invention to make the handle of unitaryone-piece construction, if found desirable, instead of utilizing theshell and cover construction as described above.

Obviously various changes in the form, construction, arrangement andcombination of the several parts of my new telescopic tooth brush may bemade and substituted for those herein shown and described withoutdeparting from the nature and principle of my invention. as defined bythe following claim.

I claim:

A collapsible tooth brush comprising an elongated hollow handle open atone end, a brush head its side walls cut away so that they togetherdefine a generally T-shaped recess for slidably receiving the brushhead, said side walls being con- ,Vergingly inclined towards the openend of the handle and located adjacent thereto, and one end of the brushhead terminating in a block of T- shaped cross-section adapted to travelwithin the recess and to bind within the convergingly inclined portionsof the side walls, a cover closing the open longitudinal side of theshell and having REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,407,214 Osborn Feb. 21, 19221,468,431 Wodonos Sept. 18, 1923 1,731,500 Nielsen Oct. 15, 1929 1,797,946 Eichel Mar. 24, ,1931 1,826,234 Acheson ;O.ct. 6, 1931 1,947,720Laub Feb. 20, 1934 2,060,869 Hopkins Nov, 17, 1936 2,083,728 Mayer June15, 1937 2,093,007 Chott -0 Sept. .14, 1937 2,116,406 Nancarrow May 3,1938 2,154,846 Heyman et al Apr. 18, 1939 2,160,618 Kreutzig May .30,1939 2,253,210 ,Psiharis 1 Aug. 19,1941

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 221,092 Great Britain Sept. 4,1924

